One of the many reasons why I enjoy reading Matson’s work is his wordsmithary, as evidenced above. I also like that he uses his platform at the Seattle Times to shine the spotlight on a lot of smaller Seattle artists and I like that he is a young, intelligent music writer (which is something Seattle’s only major daily newspaper sorely needs). But I am getting off topic. This is a post about two reviews of Alice In Chain’s new album.

Hopefully by now you went ahead and clicked on Matson’s review and gave it a good read. Now I want to share with you a review of the record from Ear Candy the Web site, as written by my friend Brent Stecker, who is another young and intelligent music writer. Typically I don’t share pieces written by Ear Candy writers other than myself here on the P-I, but I think this situation merits an exception as they are both excellently written reviews about the same album and both present different perspectives.

I’m going to post the first few graphs of Brent’s review below and link to the rest of the review over at Ear Candy the Web site.

“Hope. A new beginning. Time, time to start living, like just before we died. There’s no going back to the place we’ve started from.”

Using all the subtlety of a brick to the head, this is the way Alice In Chains opens “All Secrets Known,” the first track off “Black Gives Way To Blue,” its first new album in 13 years. It’s AIC, seven years removed from the death of beloved lead singer Layne Staley, drawing a line in the sand for the fans that have chastised them for continuing the band with new singer/guitarist William DuVall. Essentially, they’re saying they’re not about to forget their legacy with Layne, but they’re not about to hang it up, either. They still have something left in them.

Anybody that ever wore out their copies of “Dirt” or “Unplugged” should be rejoicing right about now, because while we’re not getting the same band that created those masterpieces, we’re getting an assurance that 3/4’s of the group responsible for those works of art is going to do its best to write the next chapter in the band’s legacy.

“Black Gives Way To Blue” is the next chapter and a welcome addition to Chains’ catalog, boasting the super-catchy and heavy single “Check My Brain,” bruising anthems like “Looking In View” and “Acid Bubble,” and more creepy-ass harmonies than you can shake a stick at. Jerry Cantrell and Co. still have it, and listening to the album makes you wonder why it took them so long to get back on the horse.

Now, don’t get me wrong. BGWTB isn’t perfect — not with “Your Decision” (aka “Nutshell-lite”) and “Take Her Out” (too much like the weak tracks off of “Facelift”) populating the track list. But even though it’s clear that the band can’t do all the same things it could with Layne, who was blessed with an extraordinary and inimitable voice, primary songwriter Cantrell does a good job of accentuating the positives and hiding the negatives.